Search results : 1375

In a ruling of 26 September 2013 (case no. VG 27 K 231.12), the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court - VG) decided that a broadcaster licensed to broadcast programmes nationwide was not permitted to replace the advertising on its channel with different regional advertisements. This was not covered by the national broadcasting licence under the terms of Article 20a of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement). Television broadcaster ProSieben instigated the proceedings against the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg media authority - mabb),...

In a decision of 10 September 2013 (case no. 4 ME 204/13), the Niedersächsische Oberverwaltungsgericht (Lower Saxony Administrative Court of Appeal - OVG) ruled that the comparison of registration data described in Article 14(9) of the Rundfunkbeitragsstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on the Broadcasting Licence Fee - RBStV) does not infringe the right to “informational self-determination” (the right of the individual to decide what information about himself should be communicated to others and in what circumstances), derived from Article 2(1) in conjunction with Article 1(1) of the Grundgesetz...

In a ruling of 9 October 2013, the Schleswig-Holsteinische Verwaltungsgericht (Schleswig-Holstein Administrative Court - VG) lifted the decision of the Unabhängiges Landeszentrum für Datenschutz (Independent Land Data Protection Centre - ULD), prohibiting companies in Schleswig-Holstein from operating Facebook fan pages (case no. 8 A 218/11, 8 A 14/12, 8 A 37/12). The ULD had banned the operation of Facebook fan pages on the basis of Article 38(5) of the Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (Federal Data Protection Act - BDSG) because it breached data protection law in several ways. Visitors to such fan pages...

In a decision of 12 September 2013, the Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg Administrative Court of Appeal - OVG) ruled, in summary appeal proceedings instigated under Article 146 of the Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung (Administrative Court Procedural Code - VwGO), that the constitutional right to information enshrined in Article 5(1)(2)(1) of the Grundgesetz (Basic Law - GG) does not apply to MPs’ use of their spending allowance. The journalist had asked the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) administration for information about which MPs had used the allowance to buy more...

In a ruling of 22 August 2013 (case no. 2 A 10002/13.OVG), the Oberverwaltungsgericht Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate Administrative Court of Appeal - OVG) decided that the depiction of a brand of beer before and during the live broadcast of a football match on the Sat.1 television channel had constituted unlawful product placement in the sense of Article 7(7)(3) of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement - RStV). During the broadcast of a UEFA Europa League match, in which the use of product placement had been mentioned, TV broadcaster Sat.1 had twice switched to the...